SHEAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shear mean? 

• SHEAR (noun)
  The noun SHEAR has 2 senses:

1. (physics) a deformation of an object in which parallel planes remain parallel but are shifted in a direction parallel to themselves

2. a large edge tool that cuts sheet metal by passing a blade through it

  Familiarity information: SHEAR used as a noun is rare.

• SHEAR (verb)
  The verb SHEAR has 4 senses:

1. cut with shears

2. shear the wool from

3. cut or cut through with shears

4. become deformed by forces tending to produce a shearing strain

  Familiarity information: SHEAR used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHEAR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(physics) a deformation of an object in which parallel planes remain parallel but are shifted in a direction parallel to themselves

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Context example:

the shear changed the quadrilateral into a parallelogram

Hypernyms ("shear" is a kind of...):

deformation (alteration in the shape or dimensions of an object as a result of the application of stress to it)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A large edge tool that cuts sheet metal by passing a blade through it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("shear" is a kind of...):

edge tool (any cutting tool with a sharp cutting edge (as a chisel or knife or plane or gouge))

Derivation:

shear (cut or cut through with shears)

• SHEAR (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they shear    ... he / she / it shears   
Past simple: sheared   
Past participle: sheared    / shorn   
-ing form: shearing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cut with shears

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

shear hedges

Hypernyms (to "shear" is one way to...):

clip; crop; cut back; dress; lop; prune; snip; trim (cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

shearer (a workman who uses shears to cut leather or metal or textiles)

shearing (removing by cutting off or clipping)

shears (large scissors with strong blades)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Shear the wool from

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

fleece; shear

Context example:

shear sheep

Hypernyms (to "shear" is one way to...):

shave; trim (cut closely)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

shearer (a skilled worker who shears the wool off of sheep or other animals)

shearing (removing by cutting off or clipping)

shears (large scissors with strong blades)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cut or cut through with shears

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

shear the wool off the lamb

Hypernyms (to "shear" is one way to...):

cut (separate with or as if with an instrument)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

shear (a large edge tool that cuts sheet metal by passing a blade through it)

shearer (a workman who uses shears to cut leather or metal or textiles)

shearing (removing by cutting off or clipping)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Become deformed by forces tending to produce a shearing strain

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "shear" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

 Context examples 

On this night, sleeping under my beloved shears, I was aroused by his footsteps on the deck.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Then, the sample is sheared to separate individual protein-DNA complexes.

(Chromatin Immunoprecipitation, NCI Thesaurus)

So Oz brought a pair of tinsmith's shears and cut a small, square hole in the left side of the Tin Woodman's breast.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

This difference stretches and shears the bright knots, producing light and dark lanes in the disk.

(NASA Visualization Shows a Black Hole’s Warped World, NASA)

They are believed to shear the magnetic fields, stretching them and carrying them around the planet.

(NASA's Juno Finds Changes in Jupiter's Magnetic Field, NASA)

This can be a result of tensile forces, compressive forces, shear, bending, tensile (pulling), or torsion.

(Device Deformation Problem Evaluation Result, Food and Drug Administration)

"So do I, it was so smooth and pretty. But it will soon grow out again," said Beth, coming to kiss and comfort the shorn sheep.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I, the Socman, am shorn of my lands that you may snivel Latin and eat bread for which you never did hand's turn.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Akt activation by shear stress, but also by VEGF, activates NOSIII by serine phosphorylation, which increases the affinity of NOSIII for calmodulin.

(Nitric Oxide Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Device problems caused by the separation of a component, object, or material into two or more pieces including shear.

(Device Fracture Problem Evaluation Result, Food and Drug Administration)